Choice 1: Matthew 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:39-46; John 18:1-2. The Savior’s Suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane
1) Review Matthew 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22: 39-46, making a list of words and phrases that describe the Savior’s suffering. Include in your list clarifications provided in the footnotes.
- Began to be sorrowful and very heavy (Matthew 26:37): GR-Or began to be distressed and troubled.
- Exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death (Matthew 26:38): GR-Deeply grieved; TG-Pain; Sorrow
- The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41)
- Betrayed into the hands of sinners (Matthew 26:45): TG: Betrayal of Jesus Christ
- Sore amazed and very heavy (Mark 14:33): GR-amazed, awestruck, astonished; GR-depressed, dejected, in anguish.
- And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him (Luke 22:43): TG Angels
- Being in an agony (Luke 22:44): TG-Pain
- His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground (Luke 22:44): JST Luke 22:44…and he sweat as it were great drops of blood…; Mosiah 3:7; Doctrine and Covenants 19:18. TG Jesus Christ, Atonement through.
2) Write additional insights about the Savior’s suffering in Gethsemane found in the following resources:
- Mosiah 3:7; Alma 7:11-13; Doctrine and Covenants 19:16-19
– Mosiah 3:7
a) suffer temptations, pain of body, hunger, thirst, fatigue (even more than man can suffer, except it be unto death); great shall be his anguish for the wickedness and the abominations of his people.
– Alma 7:11-13
a) suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; he will take upon him their infirmities; that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities; the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people; that he might blot out their transgressions
– Doctrine and Covenants 19:16-19
a) v. 16: “For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent;”; tremble because of pain; bleed at every pore; suffer both body and spirit.
- The institute student manual commentary for “To What Extent Was the Atonement Completed in the Garden of Gethsemane?” (p.173)
– “the agony of Gethsemane had recurred, intensified beyond human power to endure”; “In that bitterest hour the dying Christ was alone, alone in most terrible reality”; “Father seems to have withdrawn the support of His immediate Presence, leaving to the Savior of men the glory of complete victory over the forces of sin and death”; “Sweet and welcome as would have been the relief of death in any of the earlier stages of His suffering from Gethsemane to the cross, He lived until all things were accomplished as had been appointed”.
- The institute student manual commentary for Luke 22:44, “And Being in an Agony, He Prayed More Earnestly” (pp. 173-74)
– “even he grows in grace and ascends to higher heights of unity with the Father”. “Strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death”; “Yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered”; “he became the author of eternal salvation until all them that obey him”; “There came upon Him the weight and agony of ages and generations”; “indescribable agony”; “suffered in His own person the consequences of an eternal law of God broken by men”; “overpowering torture, all experienced in the submission to the eternal fiat of Jehovah and the requirements of an inexorable law”; “not simply the suffering of personal death”; “Groaning beneath this concentrated load, this intense, incomprehensible pressure, this terrible exaction of Divine Justice, from which feeble humanity shrank”; “He had wrestled with the superincumbent load in the wilderness, He had struggled against the powers of darkness that had been let loose upon him there…His mind surcharged with agony and pain…lonely and apparently helpless and forsaken”.
- The institute student manual commentary for Luke 22:44, “And His Sweat Was As It Were Great Drops of Blood Falling Down to the Ground” (p.174)
– “He suffered through fear of death”; “it is within His power to lay down His life voluntarily”; “a spiritual agony of soul such as only God was capable of experiencing”; “Christ met and overcame all the horrors that Satan, ‘the prince of this world’ could inflict”; “supreme contest with the powers of evil”;
3) Read Matthew 26:36 and the institute student manual commentary for Matthew 26:36, “Then Cometh Jesus…unto a Place Called Gethsemane” (pp. 172-173). Write a paragraph about how the meaning of Gethsemane adds insight to what the Savior experienced there.
- In the student manual, it is mentioned that, “John refers to the spot as a garden, from which designation we may regard it as an enclosed space of private ownership”. It is also mentioned that Gethsemane was assumingly a place where Christ would go to pray and confidentially meet with His disciples. I bet it was amazing for Christ to be experiencing this especially being that His surroundings were so , “close to home”. This time, He was alone in regard to someone being there to sort of hold His hand as he suffered through this.
4) Write response to each of the following questions, looking for lessons you can apply to your own life from the example of the Savior in Gethsemane:
- What were the Savior’s disciples doing while He was praying? What had the Lord taught the Apostles in Matthew 26:41? What does His example teach about how to be obedient even when “the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak?” How does Doctrine and Covenants 10:5 apply to this verse?
– The Savior’s disciples were sleeping while He was praying.
– In Matthew 26:41, the Lord taught the Apostles that they should, “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation”.
– His example teaches us that in order to be obedient, we need to follow what our spirit is telling us to do, no matter what. He admits/implies that it will definitely be difficult for us to overcome the natural man, but the Holy Ghost can help us to do so.
– In Doctrine and Covenants 10:5, it says, “And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things”. When the Holy Ghost is telling us to do something, it is telling us the truth of what we need to do. Thus, we have even more reason for why we need to follow its promptings.
- Read Mosiah 15:7; 3 Nephi 11:11; Doctrine and Covenants 19:19. Write the phrases from these verses that describe what motivated the Savior to “drink the bitter cup.”
– “the will of the Son being swallowed up in the will of the Father” (Mosiah 15:7).
– “which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world” (3 Nephi 11:11).
– “Nevertheless, glory be to the Father” (Doctrine and Covenants 19:19)
- Write your thoughts about the Savior’s use of the word nevertheless in Matthew 26:39; Mark 14:36; Luke 22:42. In each of these accounts, what did the Savior initially ask for? What did He say next, using the word nevertheless? What does it require to submit one’s will to the Father in this way, no matter how painful or difficult the outcome might be? When have you followed the “nevertheless” pattern the Savior exemplified in these verses by submitting to Heavenly Father’s will even though it was very difficult?
– Matthew 26:39
A) Initial asking: For the Father to allow the cup to pass from Him.
B) Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt.
– Mark 14:36
A) Initial asking: For the Father to take away the cup from Him.
B) Nevertheless, not what I will, but what thou wilt.
– Luke 22:42
A) Initial asking: If the Father was willing, that He would remove the cup from Him
B) Nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done.
– In order to submit one’s will to the Father, you must be willing to give your absolute all for the Father’s will, even if it means unto death.
– As far as my own life goes, I saw the “nevertheless” pattern when I was going through a very difficult time in my family which I am not going to give the details of. Ultimately, I was required to face the fact that I would possibly never see my biological mother again.
- According to Luke 22:44, as the Savior’s agony became more intense, how did His prayer change? Do you feel more like praying or less like praying when you are suffering? When has it made a difference in your suffering to have turned to the Lord with more earnest prayer?
– According to Luke 22:44, Christ prayed more earnestly as a result of His agony intensifying. I guess I feel more like praying when I am suffering because I guess it is at those times when I feel the most alone and feel the greatest need for the companionship of the Savior.
– I will admit that I do not really have an experience in which praying more earnestly has made a difference in my suffering. I have seen its results in others, though.
- Reflect on what you have learned about the Savior’s suffering in Gethsemane. Write a paragraph about lessons you can apply to your own life from the example of the Savior in Gethsemane.
– It is absolutely incredible to think about what the Savior willingly went through for me to be able to return back to my Heavenly Father. I think I can apply this by graciously taking advantage of the fact that the Savior cared about me and loved me so very much that he was willing to die for me. When I am suffering in one way or another, I can try to look at the situation from a different perspective and try to find the positive in it. Though it may be difficult, I can also see those times as opportunities to show even more gratitude for what the Savior has done for me.
